For the love of Art Rock
We can know someone for years and still be surprised by what they remember. Especially when we were there, too. Aging could be a factor. Ever remember an acquaintance in high school clearly and forget who you met last week?
We tell our stories with confidence, until an old friend starts smiling halfway through. We promise we’re listening, then hear something that reminds us of a story of our own. There’s affection in these exchanges, and sometimes a small disappointment we don’t notice until the other person stops talking.
I’m interested in that distance between people—and the unexpected ways it closes.
A familiar face can become someone we wish we’d known sooner. A person we barely knew can remain with us for a lifetime. We find ourselves imagining ordinary mornings together, or wondering what another choice might have asked of us. Even a life we’re grateful for can leave us curious about the one we didn’t live.
One More Thing grew from those feelings, and from the pleasure people continue to bring us.
Someone comes along, and suddenly we notice the books piled on the other chair. We consider a shirt we haven’t worn in a while. Nothing has been promised. Still, there’s a little more care in what we do, and we catch ourselves enjoying the preparations.
That interests me as much as regret does: our willingness to make room again.
We carry a great deal into each other’s company. Some of it gets told badly. Some of it slips out while we’re talking about something else. And sometimes we’re laughing too hard at a familiar story to get to the end.
There are people we want to hear from. Things we meant to ask them. We can be certain we know the whole story and still hope they’ll tell us more.
I went guitar-forward on most of the tracks – a throwback to Art Rock. There is an occasional grand piano and the softness of a string ensemble. But mostly, I long for that solo guitar, the legendary Gibson ES-335 to lift out of the rhythm to tell its tale. I hope you enjoy it!
One more thing.
I’d love for you to listen.
Listen to One More Thing on Bandcamp
Bill Leyden's Blog 